IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


k 


"A 


<   ^ 


A 


4i 


1.0 


I.I 


1^  i^ 

1^    ll'i|2.2 


us 


1^  lllllio 


1.8 


pS      1.4      1.6 

^ 

6" 

► 

^%. 


^ 


V 


/ 


'/ 


/^ 


Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


<^>" 


33  WIST  MAIN  STRUT 

WHSTIR.N.Y.  MSIO 

(716)  •73-4)03 


'^ 


&/ 

^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The< 
to  th 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


D 


D 


D 
D 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagie 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurte  et/ou  pe!Mcul6e 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

I      I    Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  giographiques  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  aut.e  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


I — I   Coloured  plates  and/or  ilSiivtrations/ 


0 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relii  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  da  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intiriaura 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  cartainas  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissant  dans  le  taxta. 
mais.  lorsqua  cala  *tait  possible,  cas  pages  n'ont 
pas  «t«  filmAas. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commcntairas  supplAmontairas: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6ti  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


I      I   Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculAes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxei 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachet^es  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtachies 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualiti  iniigale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplAmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


I      I  Pages  damaged/ 

r~~|  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

r~~|  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

[771  Pages  detached/ 

r~^  Showthrough/ 

I     I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

r~~1  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I     I  Only  edition  available/ 


The 
poss 
of  th 
filmi 


Origi 
begii 
the  I 
sion, 
othe 
first 
sion, 
or  ill 


The 
shall 
TINi 
whi( 

Map 
difffl 
antii 
bagi 
righi 
raqu 
mati 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  iti  filmAes  A  nouveau  de  fapon  A 
obtanir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


OFFPRINT  FROM  'THE  MAGAZINE  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY",  FEB.,  1886. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  da  riduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 


10X 


18X 


22X 


26X 


XX 


J 


12X 


16X 


aox 


mi 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  hes  been  reproduced  thenks 
to  the  generosity  off: 

Thomas  Fisher  Rare  Book  Library, 
University  of  Toronto  Library 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


L'exemplaire  fiim6  fut  reproduit  grSce  i  la 
g6nArosit6  de: 

Thomas  Fisher  Rare  Book  Library, 
University  of  Toronto  Library 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  natteti  de  I'exemplaire  fiim6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Originel  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  Ail 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sont  filmes  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmis  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shail  contain  the  symbol  — »>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ♦-  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diff Grants. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  il  est  film6  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bes,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imeges  nicessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

»^ 


THE   DISINTEGRATION   OF  CANADA 

Our  Canadian  neighbors  adjoining  tlie  Eastern  border  have  been  and 
are  at  present  afflicted  with  serious  family  jars.  Troubles  provincial  and 
difflculties  municipal  have  contributed  to  set  French  and  English  by  the 
ears,  the  gre;  t  'Mague-smitten  city  of  Montreal  being  the  principal  seat  of 
the  unhappy  strife.  Much  excitement  prevails  in  the  ranks  of  the  dis- 
putants, while  mutual  recrimination  and  defiance  combine  with  revived 
race  antipathies  to  embitter  life  and  damage  the  material  interests  of  all 
alike.  No  doubt  there  is  room  for  honest  difTerences  of  opinion  between 
French  Canadians  and  British  on  various  questions  of  a  provincial  or  mu- 
nicipal character,  and  such  are  not  seldom  expressed  in  temperate,  sensible 
language ;  but  there  is  a  set  of  budding  lawyers,  ot  lofty  ambition,  as  well 
as  a  crowd  of  selfish  politicians  who  make  it  their  business  to  foment 
national  strife  and  exaggerate  reasonable  differences  on  all  occasions,  in 
order  to  promote  uieir  own  contemptible  ends.  Frenchmen,  moreover,  of 
any  education,  are  easily  moulded  into  politicians,  fluent,  demonstrative, 
and  excitable,  while  the  British,  though  cooler  and  self-confident  enough, 
are  not  slow  to  make  known  a  "  grievance,"  or  to  resent  with  a  liberal 
measure  of  growls,  a  deliberate  insult. 

Such  needy  and  "  stagey  "  politicians  supply  suitable  material  for  the 
common  herd  of  patriots  ever  ready  to  take  fire  not  simply  when  French 
interests,  but  when  French  whims  and  prejudices,  even,  are  concerned. 
The  mention  of  the  benefits  of  British  rule  and  French  indebtedness 
thereto  which  the  opposite  disputants  occasionally  indulge  in,  to  tease  and 
humble  "  Johnny  Crapaud,"  invariably  proves  both  the  red  flag  and  tne 
goad  productive  of  the  most  rabid  excitement.  Whether  he  feels  it  all  is 
another  question.  At  any  rate,  he  certainly  succeeds  to  perfection  in  simu- 
lating intense  indignation,  while  striving  to  alarm  his  opponents  with  the 
dreadful  possibilities  likely  to  flow  from  his  ofTcnded  pride.  "  Have  we 
not  opened  our  hospitable  gates  to  your  British  emigrants,  driven  out  by 
poverty  from  your  own  land,  cared  for  your  sick  and  helped  you  in  your 
struggle  for  a  living?  "  are  questions  not  seldom  flung  in  the  faces  of  the 
"  Johnny  Bulls,"  whose  ingratitude  naturally  supplies  in  this  connection  a 
fertile  theme  of  the  hottest  denunciation. 

Of  the  nationality  controversy,  its  ideas  and  snappish   tone,  the  fol- 


*       i 


THE   DISINTEGRATION  OF  CANADA 


145 


»        < 


lowing  extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  Montreal  Herald,  with  the  sub- 
joined reply  from  a  French  paper  of  the  same  city,  Le  Monde,  supplies  an 
interesting  specimen.  The  former  demands  as  it  rushes  to  the  attack — 
"  Is  this  a  British  province  ?  "  The  question  is  thus  answered  by  itself — 
"  If  it  is  not,  it  is  time  it  was.  From  the  expressions  that  reach  the  public 
from  time  to  time,  many  might  be  led  to  suppose  that  it  was  not.  We 
hear  so  much  about  treaty  rights,  about  La  Belle  France,  about  the  tri- 
color, about  everything  that  seems  to  link  the  province  of  Quebec  with  old 
France,  that  it  might  almost  be  taken  for  granted  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  population  had  forgotten  that  there  were  British  interests  to  be  con- 
sidered here.  But  if  treaty  rights  have  been  respected,  if  they  have  been 
enjoyed  to  the  full,  it  has  been  because  Great  Britain  has  kept  her 
word  to  the  very  letter,  and  because  British  colonists  have  seen  the  honor 
of  their  mother-country  maintained.  If  the  inhabitants  of  Quebec  enjoy 
political  peace  and  material  prosperity,  these  are  largely  due  to  the  benefi- 
cent political  institutions  which  have  been  granted  by  Great  Britain."  To 
which  Lc  Monde  replies :  "  .  .  .  No  •  it  is  a  French  province  which 
the  destiny  of  war  has  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  English.  The 
sovereign  of  Great  Britain  has  a  right  to  our  loyalty,  which  she  possesses, 
but  we  retain  the  privilege  of  remaining  French,  and  even  if  it  displeases 
our  enemies  we  will  continue  to  be  French The  French  Cana- 
dians do  not  owe  the  liberty  they  enjoy  to  the  English.  Our  liberties 
were  acquired  by  the  price  of  our  blood,  and  we  have  shared  them  with 
those  who  to-day  desire  to  confiscate  them  to  their  own  advantage.  The 
Herald  \&  mistaken  if  it  thinks  we  are  alarmed  at  the  specter  of  annexa- 
tion. Whether  we  be  English,  American,  or  Canadian  citizens,  we  will 
always  remain  French.  Let  those  whom  this  displeases  do  as  they  think 
proper."  There  is  a  serious  as  well  as  a  ludicrous  side  to  this  quarrel. 
After  a  century's  possession  of  the  province  by  England,  with  vigorous, 
systematic,  and  continuous  efforts,  at  great  expense,  to  colonize  its  wastes 
and  Anglicize  its  Gallic  inhabitants,  we  witness  the  most  striking  evidences 
of  failure  supplied  by  a  people,  many  of  whom  pride  themselves  on  being 
more  French  than  ever,  more  attached  to  the  language,  ideas,  and  country 
of  their  ancestors.  But  there  are  French  Canadians,  and  French  Cana- 
dians. Some  of  them  unquestionably  have  been  and  arc  being  impreg- 
nated with  British  ideas  to  an  extent  creditable  to  their  liberality  and  good 
sense.  Contact  with  imperial  officials  for  three  generations,  as  well  as  with 
leading  Englishmen  in  the  cities  and  towns,  and  a  knowledge  of  what  has 
happened  in  France  and  England,  politically  and  socially,  since  the  French 
Revolution,  have  made   impressions  on   the  more  intelligent  Canadians, 


146 


THE  DISINTEGRATION  OF  CANADA 


friendly  to  British  rule  and  free  institutions,  such  as  prevail  under  the 
Union  Jack  and  American  Eagle. 

Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  a  powerful  factor  in  the  expansion  of  the 
Canadian  mind,  and  in  the  liberalizing  of  Canadian  feelings  of  late  years, 
is  an  extensive  intercourse  with  the  United  States,  to  which  thousands  of 
French  as  well  as  British  Canadians  annually  repair.  Among  the  results 
of  this  communication,  which  appears  likely  to  extend  with  time,  must  be 
set  down  a  better  feeling  toward  the  United  States,  and  a  substantial 
respect  for  the  hospitality,  wealth,  and  energy  of  its  people.  Indeed,  any 
old  prejudice  against  them,  not  to  speak  of  hatred,  seems  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

On  the  other  hand,  whatever  sentimental  theories  or  policies  may  be 
affected  by  the  admission,  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  French 
do  not  like  the  British  and  their  ways,  stands  out  nakedly.  The  conquerors 
and  "  new  comers"  meet  them  in  business  and  in  politics  as  rivals,  and  this 
friction  touches  the  pockets  and  ruffles  the  vanity  of  a  people,  as  sensitive 
in  these  respects  as  their  compatriots  of  La  Belle  France  across  the  ocean. 
If  this  section  be  blind  to  the  undeniable  benefits  of  British  rule,  genius  and 
enterprise,  the  English  are  not  slow  to  remind  them  of  it,  nor  to  arrogate 
to  themselves  a  very  liberal  share  of  the  credit  connected  with  the  pros- 
perity of  the  province.  They  also  feel  offended  at  that  alleged  blindness 
and  ingratitude  which  refuses  to  them,  the  ameliorators,  a  larger  amount 
of  influence  in  social  and  political  affairs. 

Now,  the  question  naturally  arises — have  the  British  any  reason  for  their 
complaint  of  declining  influence,  and  French  aggression  in  civil  affairs? 
Events  of  recent  years,  I  must  confess,  favor  an  affirmative  answer.  As 
long  ago  as  the  period  preceding  Confederation,  it  was  predicted  by  states- 
men and  others  that  the  establishment  of  separate  provincial  governments 
would  develop  local  prejudices  and  leave  race  and  other  minorities  at  the 
mercy  of  the  local  majorities ;  and  that  whatever  satisfaction  the  Upper 
Canada  (now  the  Ontario)  majority  might  derive  from  the  change,  the 
British  minority  of  Lower  Canada  (Quebec)  would,  ere  many  years,  have 
good  reason  to  regret  it.  Recent  events  have  justified  their  foresight. 
Contemporaneously  with  the  rapid  disappearance  of  the  English  popula- 
tion in  Quebec  city  and  other  parts  of  the  province,  we  have  seen,  of  late 
years,  a  gradual  and  astonishing  growth  of  the  French,  especially  in  the 
direction  of  the  Eastern  townships.  This  growth  has  been  greatly  aided 
by  the  repatriation  scheme  started,  shortly  after  Confederation,  and  so 
highly  favored  by  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  in  order  to  coax  back  their 
flocks  from  the   United  States,  and  prevent  further  migration   thereto, 


)    * 


THE  DISINTEGRATION  OF  CANADA 


147 


which  might,  to  their  patriotic  and  religious  fancies,  be  attended  with  the 
loss,  to  the  outgoers,  of  their  language  and  religion !  Colonization  roads 
and  the  throwing  open  of  indifferent  and  moderately  good  crown  lands  are 
among  the  means  employed  to  effect  those  objects,  toward  which  consid- 
erable progress  has  been  attained.  The  British  feel  they  have  grown 
weaker  numerically  and  otherwise,  while  the  French  show  no  little  elation 
over  their  corresponding  gains. 

Meantime,  however  sore  the  feeling  of  any  race  minority,  and  however 
apprehensive  as  to  possible  aggression  or  injustice,  in  future,  by  the  major- 
ity, the  kindred  and  sympathizing  majority  of  no  other  province  can  help 
it ;  each  province,  which  means  each  majority,  is  entirely  independent  of 
all  the  rest  in  regard  to  local  and  municipal  affairs.  Nor  is  there  any  pros- 
pect of  a  change  in  this  respect  more  agreeable  to  any  provincial  minority  ; 
for  the  Ontario  Liberal  party,  which  is  powerful  at  Ottawa,  in  the  Federal 
House,  and  is  supreme  at  Toronto,  where  it  has  ruled  the  last  dozen  years, 
is  resolutely  opposed  to  the  slightest  interference  with  provincial  authority 
by  the  General  Government.  The  specter  of  possible  French  rule  is  as 
terrible  to  the  imagination  of  the  English-speaking  Liberals  of  Ontario 
and  Quebec  as  it  was  before  Confederation  when  it  possessed  much  vigor 
and  devotion  to  its  interests.  One-fourth  of  the  members  of  the  Parliament 
at  Ottawa  is  French  Canadian.  This  elcipcnt  is,  generally  speaking,  three- 
fourths  Conservative,  under  excellent  discipline,  highly  sensitive  to  its  own 
interests,  and  fully  alive  to  the  practical  value  of  party  loyalty.  It  has  not 
been  weakened,  much  less  paralyzed  by  the  larger  union  of  the  provinces, 
its  strength,  on  the  contrary,  being  relatively  greater  to-day  in  the  Do- 
minion than  fifteen  years  ago.  Nor,  so  long  as  the  majority  holds  together, 
as  during  the  last  thirty-five  years,  is  the  race  likely  to  lose  weight  in  even 
Dominion  affairs,  while,  with  its  present  and  constantly  augmenting  advan- 
tages, in  Quebec,  it  cannot  fail  to  aggrandize  itself. 

The  English  are  becoming  more  and  more  discouraged  and  unsettled  as 
the  years  go  by.  "  What  have  we  to  expect  from  this  steadily  increas- 
ing, rather  jealous  and  not  friendly  majority?"  is  a  question  commonly 
put  by  the  former,  who  never  were  in  a  worse  humor  for  being  Gallicized 
or  trampled  upon.  They  naturally,  also,  with  that  practical  habit 
characteristic  of  the  race,  criticize  the  fruits  of  French  r^^it  in  Quebec 
province,  after  the  following  fashion :  "  What  have  they  done  with 
all  their  opportunities  and  advantages  since  Confederation,  when  they 
started  on  equal  terms  with  Ontario,  in  the  race  of  local  self-government 
and  development  ?  Have  they  not  been  woefully  beaten  in  almost  every 
department  of  material  progress?    Has  not  Ontario  a  far  superior  school 


148 


THE  DISINTEGRATION  OF  CANADA 


system,  better  public  and  municipal  roads,  with  a  much  greater  extent  of 
them  ;  and,  has  she  not  spent  infinitely  more  on  public  improvements,  such 
as  opening  up  and  settling  wild  lands  in  the  remotest  sections,  subsidizing 
colonization  northern  railways,  and  so  forth,  while  liberally  maintaining  an 
excellent  array  of  charitable  institutions  for  the  defective  and  afflicted  ? 
Has  not  all  this  and  more  been  done  simultaneously  with  a  material  increase 
of  her  surplus,  which  now  amounts  to  several  millions?  While  our  prov- 
ince, the  oldest  and  by  long  odds,  the  first  in  the  race  a  couple  or  three 
generations  ago,  can  hardly  maintain  the  population  with  which  it  entered 
Confederation,  Ontario  has  doubled  its  population  in  thirty  years,  boasting 
at  present  over  200,000  souls!"  "Quebec,  besides,"  it  is  often  added — 
"  got  through  her  surplus  of  ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  having  the  last  few 
years  been  living  from  hand  to  mouth."  Doutless  the  $3,000,000  lately 
granted  her  for  the  North  Shore  Railway,  between  Quebec  and  Montreal, 
made  over  to  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  will  fill  some  hideous  gaps,  and 
tide  off  a  little  longer  the  era  of  deficits  that  all  thoughtful  Britons  and 
many  shrewd  Frenchmen  themselves,  expect  ere  many  years ;  but  this  re- 
source exhausted,  and  the  general  Federal  and  local  taxation  constantly 
augmenting,  there  will  be  no  alternative  by  and  by  but  a  cry  for  a  re- 
arrangement of  the  financial  terms  of  the  Union,  or  further  borrowing  in 
disguise.  « 

Can  not  Quebec  settle  her  waste  places,  open  up  and  develop  her  north- 
ern regions  and  utilize  her  timber  and  other  resources  like  Ontario  ?  some 
may  ask.  Not  for  a  long  time  to  any  material  extent,  I  fear  must  be  the 
answer.  Whatever  the  cause,  nowadays  Frenchmen  do  not  in  large  num- 
bers penetrate  and  clear  up  the  remote  wilderness,  converting  its  vast  ex- 
panse into  smiling  farms.  They  lack  the  perseverance,  and  self-denial 
conspicuous  in  former  days,  which  virtues  have  been  abundantly  displayed 
by  the  pioneers  of  Ontario  and  the  British  emigrants  who  have,  within  the 
last  two  or  three  decades,  transformed  hundreds  of  miles  of  its  remote  and 
difficult  forests,  forbidding  hills,  and  gloomy  swamps,  into  the  fairest  scenes 
of  civilization.  The  habits  of  the  French  Canadians  have  wonderfully 
changed,  thousands  now  abandoning  the  snug  houses  and  old  cleared  farms 
of  fathers  and  grandfathers  for  the  lighter  work  of  the  New  England  and 
Canadian  factories  and  workshops,  or  scattering  through  the  British  agricul- 
tural districts  or  lumbering  on  timber  limits. 

But  if  there  be  an  evil  genius  of  the  French,  its  utmost  cunning  could 
not  have  been  more  effectually  employed  to  discredit  their  intelligence  and 
damage  4heir  interests  than  have  those  results  been  effected  by  their  insane 
and  obstinate  resistance  to  vaccination.     It  has  taken  six  months'  ravages 


o 


'..; 


.k 


THE   DISINTEGRATION   OF  CANADA 


149 


i 


\l; 


.-k 


of  the  plague,  only  less  appalling  and  destructive  than  the  cholera  in  Spain, 
to  teach  the  French  Canadian  majority  of  the  Montreal  City  Council  the 
value  of  this  world-renoAvned  protection,  so  that  they  might  order  their 
employes  to  make  use  of  it ;  and  all  this  painful  period,  with  its  thousands 
of  deaths,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  racked  and  disfigured  victims  has 
even  yet  failed  to  convince  multitudes,  in  the  commercial  metropolis,  of  the 
benefits  of  an  operation  long  ago  hailed  as  one  of  the  greatest  blessings 
granted  to  humanity.  Even  at  this  late  date,  the  combined  influence  of 
the  British  and  all  other  races,  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  enormous  as 
is  their  power  in  social  and  religious  matters,  leaves  many  unimpressed  and 
ready  to  encounter  suffering  and  death,  rather  than  face  the  imaginary 
evils  connected  with  this  almost  absolute  preventive  of  small-pox. 

When  such  a  system  of  political  mismanagement  and  civic  malad- 
ministration is  considered,  what  wonder  that  the  British  element  ex- 
periences a  feeling  of  disgust  and  discouragement,  or  that  in  casting  about 
for  a  remedy,  the  most  radical  or  revolutionary  are  not  repellant  ?  The 
French,  it  is  naturally  contended  by  their  British  fellow-citizens,  having 
had  everything  their  own  way  both  in  the  provincial  and  municipal 
spheres  for  nearly  twenty  years,  have  made  a  sad  mess  of  it,  bungling  and 
sacrificing  the  interests  of  all  alike ;  and  a  resolve  to  make  a  struggle  of 
some  kind  fora  better  r/gtmc,  for  one  according  the  British  more  influence 
and  respect  in  the  general  co-partnership,  quietly  but  rapidly  takes  form. 

Any  survey  of  Canadian  affairs,  however  brief,  would  be  seriously  de- 
fective without  a  glance  at  the  financial  situation,  upon  which  very  recent 
official  statements  cast  interesting  light.  The  present  ruling  party  at  Ot- 
tawa, which  has  held  office  since  1878,  and  has  a  large  interest  in  making 
the  best  possible  case  for  itself,  is  compelled  to  admit  a  deficit  of  $2,357,470 
for  the  year  ended  30th  of  June,  last — the  first  large  adverse  balance  wit- 
nessed for  many  years.  The  cause  is  not  so  much  a  decline  in  the  revenue, 
as  a  sudden  and  unusual  increase  of  the  expenditure,  apart  from  the  cost  of 
the  Half-breed  uprising.  The  growth  of  the  expenditure  exceeded  for  the 
twelve  months,  $4,000,000.  The  total  expenditure  was  $35,327,935,  the  in- 
come being  $32,970,465.  The  Financial  Minister,  Sir  L.  Tilley,  now  re- 
signed, expected  a  surplus  of  $1,383,361,  and  the  warmest  ministerial  ad- 
vocates admit  a  deficit  of  $657,470,  after  manipulating  the  figures  of  ordi' 
nary  and  extraordinary  outlay  in  the  most  favorable  way  for  their  side. 
The  debt  has  increased  from  $93,000,000  in  1867,  the  year  of  confederation, 
to  $292,000,000,  while  the  population  has  grown  only  1,000,000.  The  tax- 
ation in  1868  was  but  $1 1,700,660,  and  is  now,  according  to  Sir  R.  Cartwright, 
an  ex-Finance  Minister  of  the  Dominion,  and  other  authorities,  speaking 


150 


THE  DISINTEGRATION   OF  CANADA 


from  public  documents,  $27,000,000.     A  deficit  of  two  to  three  millions  in 
the  revenue  is  expected  the  current  year,  1885-6.    This  gentleman  has 
striven,  with  some  success,  at  different  public  meetings,  to  deepen  the  se- 
rious impression  produced  by  those  financial  statements  throughout  Can- 
ada, by  comparing  her  financial  condition  with  that  of  the  United  States. 
He  asserts  that  Canadians  are  to-day  in  as  unfortunate  a  condition  rela- 
tively, as  to  debt  and  taxes,  as  were  the  people  of  this  Republic  at  the  end 
of  the  Civil  War,  which,  of  course,  makes  the  actual  condition  of  the  latter 
infinitely  superior.    The  Dominion  debt  has  increased  from  $30  per  head 
to  $70,  while  the  debt  of  the  United  States  has  been  reduced  from  $80  to 
$28.    Taxation  in  Canada  has  risen  from  about  $3  per  head  to  over  $6, 
while  it  has  been  cut  down  in  the  Republic  from  $14  to  some  $3.50  per 
capita ;  and  the  Canadian  population  in  the  United  States  has  swelled  from 
700,000,  five  years   ago,  to   considerably  over   a   million   to-day.     The 
value  of  real  estate  in  Ontario,  the  richest  and  most  prosperous  province, 
fell  $30,000,000  last  year,  though  there  was  some  increase  of  stock  and  im- 
plements.    To  make  the  picture  more  complete  I  may  state  that  Ontario 
has  a  surplus  of  between  $4,000,000  and  $5,000,000,  while  Quebec  has  la- 
mented a  deficit  for  several  years,  her  actual  debt  reaching,  according  to 
Treasurer  Robertson's  last  financial  statement,  over  $8,700,000! 

Another  material  element  of  trouble  to  our  Canadian  neighbors  has 
been  the  Riel  affair.  Not  to  deal  with  minor  points  or  sectional  prejudice, 
there  was  the  fact  of  solid,  long  standing  Half-breed  grievances,  for  the 
removal  of  which  Riel's  aid  was  invoked,  on  the  one  side,  to  be  offset,  on 
the  other,  by  the  consideration  of  his  ingratitude  to  the  government,  having 
previously  accepted  a  bribe  from  the  Dominion  authorities  to  leave  Canada, 
and  mischievous  course  in  promoting  an  uprising  of  half-civilized  and  savage 
elements  capable  of  the  greatest  harm  to  the  white  settlers  and  the  whole 
Dominion.  The  Metis  leader's  vanity  and  patriotic  sentiments  may  have 
been  moved  by  the  appeals  of  his  former  confreres  and  compatriots,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  a  fact  that  he  offered  for  $35,000  to  sacrifice  those  who 
trusted  him  implicitly.  Yet  many  liberal-minded  and  patriotic  citizens  of 
Canada,  while  stoutly  disapproving  of  his  whole  course,  could  not  support 
his  execution,  having  doubts  as  to  his  sanity,  under  circumstances  of 
excitement. 

Unquestionably  Riel's  execution  has  produced  a  profound  impres- 
sion throughout  the  country,  particularly  upon  the  French  Canadians,  who 
have  latterly  made  his  fate  a  race  or  national  question.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable,  too,  that  the  great  majority  of  them  being  Conservatives, 
supporters  of  the  present  government,  at  Ottawa,  agreed  with  the  British 


t 


v^ 


THE  DISINTEGRATION  OF  CANADA 


151 


\ 


in  condemning  the  revolt,  and  co-operated  with  them  in  its  suppression. 
It  was  only  since  Kiel's  trial  and  sentence  that  a  sincere  sympathy  with 
him  developed,  and  an  intense  dislike  to  the  idea  of  his  execution.  This 
somewhat  questionable,  if  not  inconsistent,  attitude  naturally  evoked  an 
opposite  feeling  with  the  British,  especially  with  the  Orange  party, 
hitherto  ardent  supporters  of  Sir  John  Macdonald,  the  Premier,  compli- 
cating the  question,  and  rendering  his  position  extremely  difficult.  On 
either  hand  useful  and  faithful  friends  of  the  government  demanded  an 
opposite  course,  though  both  only  a  short  time  before  working  vigorously 
for  the  same  object — the  suppression  of  the  Half-breeds  and  Indians.  At 
present  the  French  Canadians,  of  both  political  parties,  in  all  the  cities  and 
towns,  as  well  as  throughout  the  country  districts,  appear  mostly  of  one 
mind  in  denouncing  the  government,  and  particularly  their  own  special  rep- 
resentatives, Sir  Hector  Langevin,  Sir  Adolphe  Caron,  and  Mr.  Chapleau, 
for  the  hanging  of  Riel,  and  the  feeling  has  every  appearance  of  lasting  a 
long  time,  at  any  rate  beyond  the  period  of  the  next  elections.  The  large 
defection  of  French  Canadian  supporters  of  the  government,  over  twenty 
members,  on  this  account  alone,  but  imperfectly  exemplifies  the  popular 
indignation,  which  has  found  characteristic  though  inadequate  expression 
in  the  burning  of  those  gentlemen,  and  Sir  John  Macdonald,  in  effigy,  and 
in  the  assignment  of  the  honors  of  the  patriot  and  the  martyr  to  Kiel's 
memory. 

The  British  element  naturally  considering  the  injury  to  the  country 
produced  by  the  late  uprising — the  loss  of  over  one  hundred  lives,  material 
destruction  of  property  and  waste  of  over  $4,000,000 — resent  such  demon- 
strations as  absurd  and  unpatriotic  in  every  sense.  Thus  another  source 
of  contention  between  French  and  English  is  added  to  the  already  for- 
midable list,  bidding  fair  to  render  their  relations  still  more  unprofitable 
and  perilous.  The  political  effects  of  the  present  controversy  and  excite- 
ment in  Quebec  and  Ontario,  not  to  speak  of  the  North-west,  are  likely 
to  be  far-reaching  as  well  as  lasting,  the  fate  of  the  actual  administra- 
tion and,  particularly,  of  its  French  members  being  most  probably 
involved.  In  all  those  events,  with  their  consequent  existing  and 
prospective  troubles,  we  have  presented  another  startling  illustration  of 
the  serious  difficulty  of  founding,  by  the  great  lakes  and  the  shores  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  out  of  the  various,  rival,  jealous,  and  discordant  races, 
a  homogeneous,  contented,  and  prosperous  nation. 

A  most  significant  feature  of  this  trouble  and  one  full  of  suggestiveness 
to  the  people  of  this  Republic,  is  the  habit  of  any  aggrieved  province  party, 
Liberal  or  Tory,  in  the  Dominion,  but  particularly  in  Quebec  or  Ontario, 


152 


THE  DISINTEGRATION  OF  CANADA 


1^ 


r^ 


of  promptly  and  earnestly  casting  its  eyes  toward  the  American  Union, 
for  that  relief  and  future  protection  from  injustice  deemed  difficult  of  at- 
tainment at  home.  Such  straws  appear  so  frequently  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
whatever  as  to  how  the  wind  blows  of  late  years.  To  the  threat  that 
annexation  may  be  resorted  to,  Le  Monde,  representing  Tory  Federal 
ministers,  coolly  replies,  "We  fear  not  the  specter  of  annexation."  So 
even  the  old  French  Tory  party  is  reconciled  to  that  absorption  by 
the  voracious  American  Republic,  with  its  appalling  power  of  assimi- 
lation, formerly  so  terrible  to  it  and  its  ablest  leader,  the  late  Sir  George 
Cartier!  Even  English  flirting  with  this' idea  would  have  been  thought 
dreadfully  disloyal  and  improbable  some  years  ago,  but  a  revolution 
would  have  been  considered  requisite  to  so  transform  the  French  Tories. 
The  idea  of  wholesale  political  change  is  becoming  familiar  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  other  provinces  too.  We  have  seen  reform  leaders  in 
the  Federal  Parliament,  like  Hon.  Edward  Blake,  declaring  themselves, 
eloquently,  in  favor  of  Imperial  Federation,  and  his  colleague,  Sir  Richard 
Cartwright,  eulogizing  Canadian  Independence,  to  the  great  gratification 
of  large  and  intelligent  Ontario  audiences.  So  the  world  of  Canadian 
politicians  of  all  parties  does  move,  despite  attempts  to  confine  it  within 
old  sentimental  ligatures,  and  maintain  it  indefinitely  a  satellite  of  Eng- 
land !  When  even  a  French  Canadian  province,  with  a  population  hitherto 
so  conservative  and  monarchical  in  sentiment,  can  so  quickly  and  quietly 
veer  round  to  a  mood  of  indifference  on  the  subject  of  annexation,  or,  per- 
haps, of  half  inclination  to  such  a  change,  what  may  not  be  asserted  and 
expected  of  the  British  population  in  all  the  provinces?  All  must  be 
aware  that  the  French  would  be  more  profoundly  affected  by  annexation 
than  the  British — affected  in  their  nearest  and  dearest  interests.  But  in 
all  this  vast  change  of  sentiment,  this  rapid  drift  of  friendly  feeling  toward 
the  United  States,  have  we  not  a  compliment  to  its  true  greatness  and  a 
guarantee  of  its  glorious  future  excelling  in  honor,  as  well  as  in  inspiration, 
anything  within  the  compass  of  human  genius  or  the  resources  of  mortal 
speech ! 


Boston,  Massachusetts. 


^^^'iT;2Ac^ 


^^^eyf^cy^eA^ 


»A 

he  American  Union, 
?emed  difficult  of  at- 
as  to  leave  no  doubt 
To  the   threat  that 
^ting  Tory   Federal 
3f  annexation."     So 
that   absorption  by 
J  power  of  assimi- 
the  late  Sir  George 
have  been  thought 
.   but   a  revolution 
the  French  Tories, 
familiar  to  the  in- 
reform  leaders  in 
:laring  themselves, 
eague,  Sir  Richard 
great  gratification 
'orld  of  Canadian 
3  confine  it  within 
1  satellite  of  Eng- 
apulation  hitherto 
iJckly  and  quietly 
inexation,  or,  per- 
t  be  asserted  and 
s?    All  must  be 
-d  by  annexation 
nterests.     But  in 
ly  feeling  toward 
greatness  and  a 
as  in  inspiration, 
)urces  of  mortal 


'■'^^cj/cA^ 


\ 


